More than 1,900 hotel partners in 37 markets have won this year’s Agoda Gold Circle Award, an increase of 300 hotels and four markets since 2018.
Thailand has once again topped the country winners’ league table with 366 hotels presented with the Agoda Gold Circle Awards accolade in 2019, followed by Japan with (209 awards) and Indonesia (192 awards). Other markets in the top ten are The Philippines, which was 4th with 152 awards, China (5th with 150 awards), Vietnam (6th with 122 awards), South Korea (7th with 92 awards), Taiwan ( 8th with 74 awards), Malaysia ( 9th with 72 awards) and France in the 10th place with 65 awards.
For “First Time” winners, Thailand also has the highest number of new properties being awarded for the first time in 2019, with 266, followed by Indonesia (160 properties), Japan (134 properties), The Philippines (114 properties), and Vietnam (72 properties).
The Agoda Gold Circle Award, now in its 11th year, honors Agoda’s hotel partners’ superior service, high scoring peer-to-peer reviews on Agoda, pricing and availability excellence. New for this year, Agoda has added additional criteria, with the winning properties also having to participate in Agoda Private Sales. This is an exclusive closed user group incremental sales program to give further benefits for properties to access loyal and high converting Agoda members. Winners were judged on criteria such as payment option choices, with 42 per cent offering alternative payment methods, while a quarter have joined the Agoda VIP program, a marketing solution designed to further support increased room night sales and provide better visibility for participating hotels, and 36 per cent embracing innovative and convenient technology that makes traveling easier for customers worldwide via Agoda’s Yield Control System (YCS) application.
“Every year, competition increases for these awards as travelers’ expectations continue to rise. Congratulations to the 2019 Agoda Gold Circle Award winners for continuing to strive to offer superior service quality that is globally recognized by customers,” said Mr. Errol Cooke, Vice President of Partner Services, Agoda.
“At Agoda, we constantly develop innovative programs and technologies to improve the overall experience for travelers. This year, accommodation partners have adopted initiatives such as Agoda’s VIP Program, additional payment option methods as well as the new intuitive Yield Control System (YCS) app, which all work towards providing a better choice of inventory, pricing and payment methods for Agoda travelers. The Award gives travelers confidence to know that they will receive the best booking process and overall experience at a property,” he concluded.
Gold Circle Awards ceremonies will take place in over 29 locations around the world from November through December 2019. This year, for the first time and in recognition of its partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Agoda will be planting 6000 trees in Chiang Mai, Thailand and China, in the name of the winning hotels from these markets.
